Apparatus for producing fire extinguishing foam



March 7, 1933. F, BOYD 1,900,482

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING FIRE EXTINGUISHING FOAM Filed March 2, 1927 '2630 Q lNVbNTOR fisher L. fi n d,

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, f

FISHER I. BOYD, 0F HAVERFORD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNQR, BY ASSJ IGN-MENTS, TO NATIONAL FOAM SYSTEM, INC., 0 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE APPARATUS FOR PRODIUCiNG Application filed March2,

My invention relates to apparatus for producingfoam for application tofires to extinguish the same. j

It has been proposed to mix together foam producing chemicals, such asaluminum sulphate and bicarbonate of soda, together with a stabilizingagent, and store the same in containers foruse as occasion may arise. Ifit were practical to maintain the massof mixed material so stored in athoroughly dry state or conditionat all times such a practice would bedesirable and satisfactory, but that is not practically possible, It hasbecome necessary, therefore, to provide means of a practical nature theemployment of which the foam producing materials'may be introducedeither separately and at different points into a flowing stream ofwater, sep-' arate solutions being" thus successively formed and mixedtogether to produce a foam, or to introduce the-same from differentcontainers at a commonpoint into such, flowing stream, as shown in mycopending application, Serial Number 171,988, filed March 2, 1927, forapparatus for producing fire-extinguishing foam.

It is the general object :ofv my; invention to provide a novel meanswhereby the' foam producing materials are maintained in condition readyfor use if occasion shouldarise and wherein the said materials areintroduced separately from different containers into a flowing stream ofwater, the solutions of the said materials being formed successively andthe chemicals therein reacting to produce foam which is "adapted to beapplied to fires for extinguishing the same.

Another general object of the invention is to provide an apparatus ofnovel construc-. tion whereby the materials to be employed in andfor theproduction of a fire extinguishing foam may be-stored separately and insuch relationto a flowing stream of water that should occasion arisethey may vbe introduced into the said stream at K points spacedfrom eachother in the direction of flow. v V p It also is an object of myinvention to provide an apparatus of novel construction in whichseparate storagecontainers are in com FIRE nx'rmeursnme FOAM 1927,.Serial to. 171,989.. g I munication at different points with aflo'w mgstream of water, and also comprising means common to the said containersfor controlllng the dlscharge of powdered ma-.

terials therefrom which whenxcombined in water at different points inthe lengthofthe stream, and also" comprising means atsuoh points foraccelerating thedischarge 'of the material from the said storagecontainers;

' I shall not at this point undertake to point out all-ofthe objects andadvantagesap purtenant to the invention butothe'r and ad-yditionalobjects and advantages thereof will be referred'to' in thedetailed description v thereof which follows or will becomeappan entfrom such description. j "T In order that the invention may be readilyunderstood and "its manifold practical ad vantages appreciated referencemay be had to thefaccompanyin'g drawing in which I have illustrated oneform of apparatus embodying the invention. But it is to be 'dis-'tinctly understood that variouschangesmay be made inthe details ofconstructionthere- ,of without departing from the principle of theinvention as defined in the, claims.

In the drawing: V i Fig.1 is a View in horizontal vertical section ofmeans embodying the invention; and

Fig.2 is a transverse vertical sectiontaken I inthe plane of line 2'2 ofFig. 1; Q I have shown in the drawing a pipe 1 through which a stream'ofwater is adapted to flow, the flow thereof being controlled by a valveat 2. I have interposed in the'said v pipe a tubularsection 3 connectedat its opposite ends by means of couplings 4 to the ad-v oining ends ofthe portions of "thepipe 11in alinement therewith. The section 3 isprovided with lateral openings orports 5 and 6 surrounded by shorttubular'projections '7 and 8 the outer ends of which are externallyscrew threaded, as indicated, for the reception of short tubularsections 9 and 10 into the upper ends of which the lower ends of taperedcontainers 11 and 12 project. These containers 11 and12 are adapted forthe separate storage of the materials consisting of chemicals which whendissolved in water react to produce a foam adapted for use inextinguishing fires. One of these storage containers may containaluminum sulphate and the other bicarbonateof soda. One or the other ofthese containers also includes in admixture with the chemical therein a.stabilizing agent, such as extract of licorice root,'oak bark extract,bra-n, etc. The use of stabilize ers and the requisite quantitiesnecessary to effect the object desired are known. to those skilled inthis art and need not be mentioned here. It may be stated that thematerials employed are introduced into the flowing stream of water, asit flows through the section 3 in-substantially equal portions;

The material within the storage containers 11 and Y12 is in dry powderedform and is adapted to be discharged therefrom through the lowerendsthereof and through the lateral ports or openings 5 and 6 into thepassageway through the section 3 in alinement with the passagewaythrough the pipe or tube 1. Valves 15 and 16 are provided for controlling the outflow of the powdered materials from the respectivecontainers 11 and 12. These valves are shown in closed position in jFig. land are adapted tobeopened andclosed by means of a lever 17 commonto both valves. The lower end of the said lever is pivotally connectedto a bracket 18 mounted, in the construction shown, upon the rear end,of the section 3. The lever is connected at a point intermediate itsends to the rear end of a link 20 the forward end of which is pivotallyconnected to the valve 15 as indicated at 21.

A projection 22 extends upwardly from the forward end of the link 20 andto its upper end the rear end of a link 23 is pivotally connected theforward end of which is pivotally connected to the upper end of an arm24 which is rigidly connected at its lower end to the rear end of thevalve 16. It is apparent that if the lever 17 is moved toward the left,having reference to Fig. 1, both of the valves 15 and 16 are moved intoopenposition to permit discharge of the powdered material from thecontainers 11 and 12 which descendspartly as a result of gravity throughthe ports 5 and 6 into the passageway through the section 3. Movement ofthe lever 17 in the opposite direction causes movement of the valves 15and 16 into closing position, which is the position shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawing. 7 Mounted within the rear end of the section 3 is a nozzle25 which is inalinement' with an intermediate combining tube 26 theopen- 111g in the rear end of which is enlarged as indicated at 27 Theopening through the nozzle 25 tapers toward its forward end, as isclearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The forward end of the nozzle 25terminates in a plane which extends transverselyof the section 3 andwhich extends approximately midway of the port 5. The mixing of thematerial from the container 11 with the water begins in the spacebetween the end of the nozzle 25 and the adjoining end of the combiningtube 26 and continues in the latter. The combining tube 26- is inalinement with a combining tube 30 the opening in the rear end of whichis somewhat enlarged, as indicated at 31. The forward end of thecombining tube 26 terminates in a plane which extends transversely ofthe section 3 and which is located approximately midway of theport6. Theforward end of the combining tube 26 is spaced sufficiently from therear end of the combining tube 30 to facilitate the thorough mixing andintermingling of the powdered material which is discharged from thecontainer 12 through the port 6 into the passageway through the section3. The mixing is continued in the said combining tube 30. p

. The material from the containerll having been intermingled with anddissolved or partially dissolved in the combining tube 26, it is incondition to readily intermingle and mix with thepowdered material whichis discharged from the container 12. The mixing or intermingling of thesolution of aluminum sulphate (or other material) as it isdischargedfrom the combining tube 26 with the powdered bicarbonate ofsoda (or other material) from the container 12 has been found to effecttheproduction of a foam in a most efiicient and satisfactory manner. Itis understood that in all cases the requisite quantity of stabilizingagent is present in admixture with one or the other of the materials orwith both, and it also is to be understood that the foam producingmaterials may be stored in reverse relation to each other from It may befound desirable to eifect adjustments axially of the combining tube 26.In order that such adjustments may be effected the said tube isadjustably mounted in bear ings, as shown, which are rendered watertightby means of packing 35. The means provided by me for effecting suchadjustments consists of a lever 36, the lower end of which is in theform of a yoke, the opposite sides of which are pivotally connected asindicated at 37 to the opposite sides of the combining tube 26 and attheir lower ends are pivotally connected as indicated at 38 to a flatsection 39 by means of which the opposite end portions of the section 3are connectedtogether. The upper end of the lever 36 is adapted to beheld in adjusted position by means of a nut and bolt 41 adjustablymounted in an arcuate slot 42 in a yoke 43 supported atits opposite endsupon the inner ends of the opposite end portions of the section 3.

The pipe 1 is provided with a check valve 46 located in front ofthe'section 3 which 0perates to prevent a return flow of watertherethrough. a

It will be seen that by my invention I have provided an apparatus ofsimple construction by means of which the chemicals which are employedfor the production of a fire extinguishing foam are introducedseparately and at different points into a stream of water. Thesechemicals dissolve'inthe water and when the solutions thereby formedcome together they react to produce a foam which when a stabilizer ispresent is of a character satisfactory for use in extinguishing fires.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In apparatus for producing fire extinguishing foam, the combinationof a pipe through which a stream of water may flow,

the said pipe having laterally and upwardly extending openings therein,containers supported above the said openings and being in communicationtherewith, the said containthe discharge of adjusting the said combiningtube axially,

stationary containers the discharge ends of and the other anotherchemical substance,

either one or both of said containers being adapted to hold astabilizing substance, which chemical substances when in the presence ofeach other in water react to produce fire extinguishing foam, and meansfor controlling substances from said con- I tainers through the saidlateral openings into 1 the said pipe. 7 V

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereuntosi ned my name this 28th day of February, 192 7.

FISHER L.-BOYD.

ers being adapted to hold separately chemical substances which whencombined in the presence of water react to produce fire extinguishingfoam, means for simultaneously opening and closing the passageways fromsaid contamers 1nto the said openings, means including a comb ning tubewithin the said pipe for creating partial vacuums therein opposite thesaid lateral openings, and means or adjusting the said tube to diiferentposi- V tions.

extending openings therein, the said open-' ings being spaced asubstantial distance from each other in the direction of the length ofthe said pipe, a combining tube extending between the said openings, anozzle the dischar e end of which terminates opposite about the middlepoint of the first of the said openings, and the discharge end of thecombining tube terminating in operative relation to the succeedingopening, means for I I in:

